"If six police officers were killed every year there would be uproar, yet we have six rescue workers being killed every year."

Vehicle recovery operator Steve Godbold was killed in 2017 whilst attending to a breakdown on the hard shoulder of the M25.

The father-of-four's partner, Sam Cockerill, told Sky News: "Steve was killed when there was a hard shoulder to operate in. A smart motorway doesn't even have a hard shoulder so it's automatically more dangerous.

"Drivers needs to be made more aware about how to be safe, about slowing down and changing lanes when they see a recovery vehicle in action and rescue recovery vehicles should be allowed to have rear red-flashing lights like other emergency services."

Image:Sam Cockerill's partner Steve Godbold was killed while attending a breakdown on the M25